SpaceX Jan. 9 Launch Puts Iridium’s Future Up in the Air
- First flight since explosion destroyed SpaceX’s Falcon 9
- ‘Historic launch’ to replace aging Iridium satellite network
The Year in Space: Reusable Rockets
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Iridium Communications Inc. needs SpaceX to get it right this time.
Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is set to launch 10 Iridium communications satellites from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Monday, marking the company’s first return to flight since a Falcon 9 rocket blew up on a Florida launch pad in September. The satellites are part of the Iridium NEXT constellation network, providing new and better communications services, and allowing air-traffic controllers to monitor planes flying over oceans anywhere in the world.